Mechanical looper



- July 9, 1935, v H. F. wEBs'l-ER MECHANICAL LOOPER Filed June 21, 1933 Patented July 1935 4, l ,Y l Y Y Vv .ziiiin3-5 i MECHANICAL LOOPER Henry F. Webster, St. Louis, Mo,

Application June 2 1, 1933, Serial No. 676,791

4 Claims.. (Cl. 112-80) The invention relates to the art of forming A iiat bar I forms the frame of the device and a series of .loops of yarn or ynarrow strips of is offset at its upper end and provided with a rigid material particularly Vas'used in forming-hooked handle 2 by which the device is held by the oprugs in which the materialis projected "through erator; *Mutilated gears 3 and 4 are mounted andwithdrawn from a backing fabric of bu'rlapA on opposite'sides of frame. I, being journaled 5 or the like sojas toorm a plurality of closely Yabout a 'common axis A andin Xed relation spaced loops of material projecting from one side to eachother, the teeth 5 of gear 3 being oppoof thefabric, which loops may be out subsequentsite the mutilated portion 6 of gear l and the ly and brushed tov form a'thick pile. Y' teeth 'I of gear being opposite the mutilated 10 Ordinarily, worlr'of this kind 'is done by man-` portion 8 of gear 3. A crank and handle 9 coin- 10 ually inserting a yarn or strip-threaded needle D'ISQS means OI' I'Otatng gears 3 and 4- 7 through the fabric then, `by a separate manual Individual pinions Ill andv I lV are mounted on operation, thrusting a loop holding element opposite. sides of frame I, being relatively rotatthrough the fabric then, by a separate-'manual able and in operative association with gears 3 p5- operation, withdrawing the needle, stepping it and 4, respectively. `The ratio of gears 3 and 4 3s along the iabricand again `inserting itland then, v ftQ DnOIlS. .l0 and ll iS aS tWO t0 One. TWO teeth by a separate manual operation, withdrawing `i 2 `of, pinion I0 are` shorter than the remaining the loop holding element and stepping-itaiong teeth andcanoppose the mutilated portion 8 of the fabric and again projecting it through the gear 3 tofhold pinion I0 against rotationdurine o0 latter to engage the next loop. l `the movementV of the mutilated portion 8 past 20 It has been proposed to provide a mechanical the pinion. Pinion II is similarly constructed and driving' mechanism for reciprocating the feed `looked iin-stationary position during the passage point and loop pgint through the backing, but,v `of mutilated portion Bof gear 4 past the pinion Il. sofaras ram awareitne operation-of suon de- E aoh pinion Carries a Crank I3 snolv I4, respos- `viceshas resulted in uneven lengths andspaeing Avelyf'ld-"links l5 and l5 depend IOYI CIBIIKS gf 'of loops and ina loose yarn or fabric at the rear I3 and Mndmay be reCDl-Oca'ed thereby. ofthe backing. l f Guides I'land I8 are secured to frame I and The object of the presentinvention isto pro- Chamel Shaped bars I9 and 20, IGSDSCtVelY, ae lvide a simple, efcient, mechanical'device' for the Sllidable n guides l1 and i8. Bar i9 is narrower 30 purpose indicated above, which device will'iorm than bal' 20 and iS nested therein- CIDS 2l and 30 a plurality of even loops on one side'of theback- 22 secure the lower ends oflinks I5 and it, reling-and will `draw the yarn or material tight at SDeCVelSf', 't0' baTS 'lgrand 2i- A SCleW 23 adune` rear of. ine packing and will' insureeven l`Justaloly mountstho needle yor feed point 24 onv spacing of the successive loops and willdischarge the lower end of bar I9 and a screw 25 adjustably 35 `these functions with a minimum amount of skill `mounts the 'looper point 25 on the lower end, o1" 35 or'attention by vthe operator. Thisobject isaatbar 28. YBars I9 and 2B are provided With Ting- 4'tained generallyby providing an intermittent like stops 21 and 28,respectively, which are shaped 'driving mechanism for each ofthe points where-, "wengge the materiel Orl Which the device iSv 'by each point will remain stationary, in` a posioperating over asubstantial area without seriously o Vtionin which it is projected through the work, yinterferingwith the vision of the operator if he is 40 throughout the withdrawing,l stepping forward, endeavoring to follow a patternfstarnped on the,` i Y' Iand reinsertion of the other point. f matrial. v i

`As willbe more clearly apparent fromthe foli Operation-'Jn Figures 1 and 2 the'device is in glowing. description and the accompanying draw# a position which may be considered as the begin- ,'15 ing, such a mechanism attains the desired object, ning Vof a cycle of operations although several 45 and in the accompanying drawing- Vpreviously formed loops L are indicated. The if Figure 1 is a'rear view of the tool. leed `pointil is projected throughr the backing B Figure 2 is a sideviewof lthesarne, portions -vwith -it's Astopy 21 engaging the latter. (At the being broken away and sectioned to more clearly beginning of the job,f.the entire device would be 59 Iillustrate the construction. `moved-bodily to thrust point 24 to the position 50 lFigures 3, 4 andl are views of upper and lower shown.) "The yarn Y extends from the eye vE of parts vshown in Figure 2 (the intermediate porfthelfeedfpoint through the opening in stop 2l and tions being omitted) but showing them in succes- "may -be' drawn freely throughthe stop ring withsive related positions assumed during the cycle out being caught or pinched between the stop 55 of operations of the tool. Y and the material. 55

The teeth 'I of gear 4 are enmesh with the teeth of pinion II and rotation of crank handle 9-90 in a clockwise direction, to the position shown in Figure 3, rotates pinion I I--180 so that its crank I 4 is in the reverse of the position shown in Figure 1 and the looper point 26 moves downwardly into the loop of yarn L just formed by the feed-point, drawing the yarn at the rear of the point tight against the backing and also drawing in additional yarn through the opening in stop 21 so as to lengthen the loop. Stop 2U governs the position of the looper point relative to the backing and serves as a clamp engaging the yarn at the rear of the points to resist movement of the same and the shortening of previously formed loops. During this movement of the looper point the feed point remains stationary as the last half of the mutilated portion 8 of gear 3 is riding over the short teeth I2 of pinion I0. During the next 90 movement of crank 9, the rst half of the mutilated portion of gear 4 rides over the short teeth of pinion Il, holding the latter, its crank I4, link IS'and the looper point 26 stationary .and at the same timel the teeth 5 of gear 3, being enmesh with the teeth of Vpinion I 0, rotates the latter and its crank I3`to raisethe feed point to the position shown in Figure 4. It will be noted that the feed point 24 and looper point 26 are inclined downwardly and to the right so that as feed point 24 r`is withdrawn from the backing it moves forwardly, as indicated at X, Figure 3, so that upon again being projected downwardly it ,will pierce the backing at a point spaced from the previous loop.

Upon further 90 movement of crank 9, feed point 24 is thrust downwardly through the backing to the position shown in Figure 4, carrying with it the yarn Y. During this movement the looper point 26 has remained stationary, holding the loop in the position shown and, accordingly, the feed point has drawn the yarn downwardly so as to tightly engage the piece of backing between the two loops.

Upon further 90 movement of the crank 8, the looper point 25 is withdrawn from the previous .loop and upon passing above the backing, moves forwardly and the parts are in the same relative position as indicated in Figures 1 and 2, the cycle of operations of the device having been completed.

From the above description, it will be seen that one of the points is in each loop from the time the loop is rst formed-until the. succeeding loop is formed. In other words, the feed point remainsk in the loop until the looper p oint is inserted therein and the looper point remains in the loop until the feed point descends to form the next loop. So long. as either of the guards 21 or 28 is maintained in contact with the backing, one of the points kWill be holding the loop and the loops will be formed of uniform length and the portion of the yarn at the rear of the backing will be maintained tight against the same.

The device will feed itself automatically along the line of stitching, although an experienced operator will be able to increase or decrease the distance between successive stitches or loops by inclining the tool from the vertical.

In addition to the formation of the loops more evenly and tighter than is likely to be attained by tools in which the points areactuated in both directions by alternate movements of the operathe desired position, a hand operated crank journaled on said frame, a needle point and a looper `point slidingly mounted on said frame, means operated by continuous rotation of said crank for reciprocating said points alternately and holding each point in projected position while the other point is being reciprocated, and ring-like elements associated with said points for engaging the fabric being worked to hold the device in desired relation thereto irrespective of the reciprocation of said points, the ring-like element associated with the needle point being constructed and arranged to receive the yarn supplied to the needle point.

2. In a device of the class described, a. frame member, mutilated driving gears journaled on said frame member, corresponding driven pinions associated with said gears and having continuous teeth, the tooth portion of one of said gears coacting with teeth of the corresponding pinion to drive the latter while the mutilated portion of the other of said gears is co-acting with teeth of its corresponding pinion to lock the latter against rotation and vice versa, and a feed point and a looper point slidably mounted on said frame and reciprocated respectively by said pinions.

3. In a device of the class described, a frame, a toothed pinion journaled thereon with a portion of its teeth being shortened, a mutilated gear journaled on said frame with its teeth arranged to mesh with all the teeth of said pinion and with its mutilated portion arranged to co-act with the end of said shortened pinion tooth portion to hold said pinion against rotation temporarily, a crank on said pinion and a feed point reciprocated by said crank intermittently, said feed point being in advanced position when said pinion is held against rotation as described, another similar pinion, gear and crank mechanism, a looper point similarly reciprocated thereby, and means timing the operation of said mechanisms alternately.

4. A loop stitch forming device of the class described comprising a needle point and a looper point, individual elements associated with said points and extending laterally therefrom, mechanical means for withdrawing said needle point from the material and again thrusting it through the material while the looper point element engages the work to hold the looper point stationary, continued operation of said mechanical means then withdrawing said looper point and its element from the material and again thrusting it through the material while the needle point element engages the work to hold the needle point stationary, the element on said needle point being of ring-like formation to receive the yarn supplied to theV needle point and to facilitate inspection of the path of the device.

HENRY F. WEBSTER. 

